Teams: Morocco, DR Congo, Ivory Coast, Togo
Group C plays host to Ivory Coast who are the current African Champions and favourites going into the tournament. The rest of the group is made up of Morocco, who have not won the tournament since 1976, two time winners DR Congo and Togo who will be competing for the 8
th time.
Morocco
Although ranked 10
th in Africa, Morocco go into AFCON as somewhat of a dark horse as they head in with one of the strongest squads on paper. Despite the last minute injury suffered by Sofiane Boufal, who is arguably their strongest player, their team remains strong after a recent restructuring that sent them coasting through the qualifying rounds. A large percentage of the Moroccan team play their football abroad and with the help of their game-changing coach, Herve Renard, they are sure to pose a real threat to the rest of the field.
DR Congo
DRC are currently ranked 6
th in AFRICA and will be competing in AFCON for the 18
th time. The Leopards have not won the tournament since 1974 but are looking like a strong side ahead of their trip to Gabon. Less than a year ago, DR Congo were named Champions of the Chan tournament which is a sister tournament to AFCON that only includes African based players. Coach Florent Ibenge, however, has named a squad consisting of a majority of players who ply their trade on foreign soil including their strong Forward Dieumerci Mbokani who plays for Hull City in England. The Leopards are certainly not a team to be written off.
Ivory Coast
Ivory coast are looking like favourites going into this tournament and for good reason. The Elephants have not lost a single game since February 2016 and will be looking to drag that impressive form into the tournament. They are currently ranked 2
nd overall going into Gabon and are the top ranked team in Group C. Almost the entire Ivory Coast squad play their football on foreign soil and the squad includes arguably some of the biggest names in football. The Elephants qualifying group consisted of just 3 teams and they managed to scrape through with one win and 3 draws landing them a point above 2
nd place Sierra Leone. It’s now time to see whether the team of Ivorian stars can manage a second tournament win in a row.
Togo
Togo are the only team in Group C who have never won an AFCON title and were one of the two second-placed “wildcard” teams to make it into the 2017 tournament. Claude Leroy has named a highly unrecognisable 23 man squad although it does include former Premier league star Emmanuel Adebayor who is sadly coming to the end of his illustrious career. In such a tough group, Claude Leroy and the Hawks are going to need to give it their all if they want to make it into the knockout stages.
AFCON group C winner odds
Ivory Coast - 1.50 Morocco - 4.50 DR Congo - 6.25 Togo - 21.00